International Study Trip to Scotland
The two Scottish cities provided excellent examples of sports, culture, and events management during the five day visit. From May 9 to May 13, students from the Sports, Culture, and Events Management full time masters degree program toured sights and locations in Edinburgh and Glasgow for their International Week excursion – a portion of the second semester curriculum. The destination and trip itinerary were all selected and arranged by the student group under the direction of their faculty advisor for the excursion, Mark Romanelli.
The time in Edinburgh focused on the events and culture sides of the program. The highlight of the events portion of the schedule was a meeting with Stuart Turner, director of the Scottish national events agency Events Scotland. Students were welcomed to the agency’s waterfront headquarters and provided with a detailed presentation of the work of Event Scotland, how it interacts with other economic sectors in the country and region, and how the agency looks to serve as a model for events management on national and global scales in the future.
Cultural highlights in Edinburgh ranged from the formal – a private presentation by Diana Morton, outreach program cultural services director for the city of Edinburgh, - to the informal – an evening tour of various popular and lesser known locations around “Auld Reekie” (Old Edinburgh).
After departing Edinburgh the group moved on to Glasgow where the focus was heavily in favor of the sports and sports management side of the degree field. Glasgow was the host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Along with receiving private guided tours of Commonwealth Games venues, students were able to see first hand how the actual legacy of the Games is playing out as measured against the planned legacy. Mr. Romanelli stated, “This was the perfect time to visit Glasgow after hosting of the Commonwealth Games, right in the middle of the transition period from staging to legacy. Students really got the chance to see how legacy planning for global sports plays out in practice.”
As an impromptu end event to the program, members of the group took advantage of the opportunity to attend a variety show at the Britannia Panopticon Theater, the world’s oldest surviving music hall. Following the official end of the program, many students opted to remain in Scotland to attend the Scottish Highland Games before returning to Kufstein.